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Love and College

Month: September 2014

Molly Wood, a reporter for the NY Times wrote an article based on social network news feeds. I found this article to be really interesting. I did not realize just how much these social networks have changed over the years and I also had to paid much attention to the importance of the news feed (mainly because I focus most of my attention on my profile). In high school I was an extremely active twitter user and actually observing the new abilities and overall appearance has change drastically in such short time. Facebook was founded in 2004 however “the feed was introduced in 2006”. Facebook has changed a great deal since then. Every thing is easily accessible from your news feed now. You can view posts from friends, comments being posted on the side, chat conversations and more on the same screen. The designers of this website have to assure that it caters to people of all ages as well hence the importance of the news feed. The appearance must be inviting and user-friendly to gain more users.

I do agree that Twitter’s template is starting to look very similar to Facebook. Although I love the simplicity of the Facebook news feed, I do not like that twitter limits it’s users to just a few sentences per post. I understand that the purpose of twitter is to create short post but I believe viewers should be given the options to write a little more if they want. And even with Twitter’s advances, Facebook still trumps Twitter because of the filters the news feed allows (top stories and most recent).

I found this boo to be overall uninteresting however I did find a few interesting points made throughout the first four chapters.

1. “Compared with other animals, they have strikingly large brains relative to their bodies. Moreover, most of the extra brain volume is devoted to one part of the brain in particular: the neocortex, which is involved in higher functions such as spatial reasoning, sensory perception, and conscious thought.” (Standage, 8)

This especially caught my eye because I find it interesting how differently the human brain works as opposed to animals. We are effected by our outsides differently than animals. And the media holds the most impact on the human mind. However animals are not effected in the same way. Not even those most closely related to the human. For instance, societal appearances do not effect chimpanzees the way it does humans. They aspire to live while humans aspire to live and be beautiful. This sparked questions for me such as, why are humans influenced so much by their surroundings? Why is fame and fortune so important to people?

2. “Dictating and exchanging letters, sharing written news, and keeping up with the latest books required the ownership of specialist slaves and was, accordingly, limited to the Roman elite of Aristocats, generals, lawyers, state officials, and businessmen. But ordinary people came into daily contact with another form of media in which almost anyone could participate: graffiti.” (Standage, 38)

I have learned a lot about ancient Egypt in school so even though this information was not particularly new to me, I still found it fascinating. I imagine that the news some news must have been difficult to decipher and to actually make these graffiti markings could have been time consuming. To think this was the main source for getting news is perplexing seeing how far the news industry has come. I also love that journalism has not evolved in the sort that anyone can be one. Even in Ancient Egypt people did need to be educated to share news or print their stories. Anyone can be journalist.

3. “It was not just words that traveled along the social networks of the Reformation era, but music and images, too. The news ballad, like the pamphlet, was a relatively new media format. It set a poetic and often exaggerated description of contemporary events to a familiar tune so that it could be easily learned, sung, and taught to others.” (Standage, 57-58)

Lastly, I am a music fanatic and had never heard any information such as the quote I left about until I read this book. I feel if music was used to disperse news more so now in this day and age, more people would be aware of their local news and politics. Many people my age are not interested in reading up on current events and using a method such as this just may make my peers more aware.

This book made me see just how much technology is taking over not just the news industry, but all industries and how far writing/news has come from the its beginning. I like that Standage gives a story like feel to his text and draws images of how social media existed in the past and the ways in which it differs now.

I found this article on the People Magazine website. I think it was successful because it was simple, a good length, straight-forward and detailed. It included dialogue, links, even footage of the newscast in which Greene quit. The next step for People Magazine would be to do a follow up story on Greene. Below the article, People Magazine already has a link asking viewers to sign up for more stories related to this article. And below this link is a bunch of links to other article published on the site.

I thought Greene’s actions were extremely brave. I commend her efforts for fighting for what she believes in however, I hope she has a back up plan as far as finances because finding a job in the journalism field may not be possible after this occurrence. Her reputation as a credible reporter is ruined because she left her job to advocate what is currently illegal and disapproved of in Alaska.

The layout of my company’s website makes everything easily accessible for our large audience. We include tabs labeled by different interests and beneath those tabs we include pictures, text and links to breaking stories (in which all have captions stating the point of the article) on our website that day. Also the bright yet simple colors we use on our website attract viewers.Also at the very top of the screen our website links to other popular magazine websites such as In Style magazine and Entertainment Weekly. Aside from the content on our site, incorporating videos, links to other site and including navigation links straight to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter makes readers revisit the site.

The dark colors (purple and black) of this website really takes away from it’s creativity. When I first entered this website my first thoughts were “boring.” The bulky text font and the very large slideshow on the homepage of the website make the site look empty when you reach the home page. The fact that there is no tab menu but instead a drop down menu only visible after clicking the designated area on the screen, could draw an audience away. People prefer simplicity especially older viewers who aren’t quite fluent with technology.

This website has a good idea. The tab menu works for attracting audiences however, each story link posted on the homepage including an image is either entirely too large or too small and descriptions with these images were also rather long. Also the length of the homepage is entirely too long. Another downfall of this website’s layout is the colors. Black, red and white are really boring colors especially when the majority of the website’s color is white. Also this website has way too much advertising.

Another intriguing fact about this case is in comparison to Rice’s case, the NFL did not take the same precautions although I think they should have. Peterson abused a child only four-years-old leaving horrific scars and he still has the opportunity to excel as a football player. Although both acts of violence, honestly believe Peterson’s crime was worse than Rice’s. Simply because there is nothing a four-year-old could do to deserve such a horrible beating. I also feel there was nothing Palmer, Rice’s wife, could have done to deserve that strike in the face however, Palmer is an adult with a fully developed brain and sense of right and wrong.

Ray Rice was a Running Back for the Baltimore Ravens. He was drafted into the NFL from Rutgers college in 2008 .New Rochelle, NY. Rice signed a 5 year contract with the Ravens in 2012 but due to a domestic violence altercation Rice may never play professional football again.

The Baltimore Ravens’ Former Running Back Ray Rice was cut from the team today indefinitely for a video displaying Rice partaking in domestic violence. Recently married Ray Rice and Janay Palmer were recorded in an elevator where Rice strikes Palmer in the face twice leaving her unconscious. Rice then drags her body out of the elevator and lies her face down on the ground. The incident not only largely concerned and disturbed fans and public, but also largely impacted fellow football players and coaches. One month after the attack, Feb. 15th, the couple was married.

The incident brought forth much attention and judgment. John Harbaugh, the Ravens coach, and officials immediately released Rice after viewing the video footage. However, on March 28 Rice and Palmer were pronounced husband and wife only one day after Rice’s indictment. As punishment for his crime, Rice is expected to complete a pretrial diversionary program as opposed to serving a prison sentence.

Shakiya Peters is a young mother of four children living in the Troy region. She has a very busy schedule working nights at a psychiatric center and during the day taking care of a three year old boy, six year old girl, ten year old girl, and 11 year old boy. “I don’t use any social networks mainly because I do not have the time too. I am a mother of four children, all under 12 years of age, I’m lucky if I get the chance to eat three times a day let alone snap a pic for Facebook.”

Peters stressed that at one point she did try Facebook. She kept her page activated for about three weeks. But the longer she had her account she disliked using it. “I felt like Facebook was not benefiting me. I usually don’t take pictures an that’s a huge part of Facebook from what I see. I was never able to take a picture I actually felt confident posting.” She also complained about the complexity of the Facebook website. “I always needed help doing things. Checking messages, posting statuses, and my memory is really bad. I found it irritating asking for help practically every time I used Facebook.” Peters also has made email accounts that are no longer active. “I’ve had many different email accounts strictly for school and work purposes. However, Each and every account I made I’ve completely forgotten the login information.

Shanta Corley

50 year old

Hometown: Troy, NY

Shanta Corley- Facebook Profile Picture

Shanta Corley is a 50 year old Troy resident. She moved to Troy from Queens,NY approximately 15 years ago. She is living here without much family being her parents just recently moved to the south this summer. Corley is a dedicated Facebook user. “I use Facebook daily to check up on my family and friends. I also use Facebook for inspiration through prayer groups. I love posting pictures of myself and getting feedback too. I get to show everyone how well I’m doing since I’m furthest away from my family.” The rest of her family still resides in Queens, NY. She does have a brother living upstate as well.

Facebook is the only website Corley uses on a regular basis. “Facebook is the only social network I use consistently. I use google pretty often to search things but sites like youtube, I find I only use when I’m asked to. And that’s not often.” She is not very good with using new technology and so most of the time she stays away from it.

Sharon Stevens

51 years old

Hometown: Delmar, NY

Sharon Stevens- Facebook Profile Picture

Sharon Stevens is the Director for the Community and Public Service Program at U Albany. She lives in Delmar, NY with her teenage son. She is very much tech-savvy compared to others in the 50 and older age bracket. Being the director of the CPSP also inclines to be good with technology. Stevens does use social media and frequently. “I use Facebook daily for friend/family updates and inspiration. Another site I use daily is Google for important emails. I also use YouTube about two or three times a week usually due to my son showing me videos or a “How-to” video I search for myself.”

Stevens is also associated with a couple of other social medis sites however, she uses them for business related purposes. “Linkedin, WordPress and YouTube I use less frequently. I use Linkedin and WordPress weekly for professional contacts and work postings.”

Approximately 11.5 years ago I received this as a gift from my parents. I was one of the first students in my entire school to own a cellphone. In fact there were still many teachers who still did not own cellphones themselves. When I look back on the functions of this phone and compare it to my iPhone 5 I purchased about a year ago, the quality of this phone would rate well below 5 in my opinion. I mostly remember using my virgin mobile device to download ringtones, play games and to reach my parents.

WHAT I READ

Monique Hampton

My daily routine begins with me rolling over and usually checking my phone for the time. If it is not yet time for me to begin my day I check my emails for important emails from school or work and then my Facebook and Instagram feeds for any new notifications. I used twitter and Tumblr for a short time in high school however I did not find them to be user-friendly so I got rid of them both. I had to get a twitter account again last year for another journalism class and that is the only reason I currently have one now. If I have no new messages I usually get out of bed and either use the music library on my phone to play music or tune in to either the news or a morning talk show. I look at my schedule to ensure I’ve properly prepared myself for my day ahead and then peak outside to see how I should dress according to the weather.

After showering and dressing, I head to work. This year marks my third year as a receptionist for the Community and Public Service Program office. When I arrive I first login to the system and check the blackboard websites for any assignments that may need grading. Then I move on to new registrations and when that is complete I file all the documents I entered. I repeat this cycle pretty much for the remainder of my time at work unless my supervisors assign me a different duty such as phone calls or running errands. This year I have the privilege of participating in the production of a newsletter which is really exciting. So there’s a little more researching this semester than there has been in the past.

After work is done I go to class, 97 percent of the time to discuss what he had been assigned to read the night before. I read for class at least2-3 hours every night in preparation for class/work/internship. After all the very important things of the day are complete I end my day by sitting down to enjoy a meal of just listening to music and use the news apps I downloaded to my phone to read my horoscope.